Metamemory, or knowledge of one's own memory abilities and corresponding strategies, is essential for regulating the accuracy of memory retrieval. Metamemory is needed to select appropriate retrieval strategies, to accurately assess confidence in one's memories, and to avoid memory distortions. In both healthy aging and the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD), impaired metamemory can limit one's ability to effectively use memory in everyday situations, causing psychological and behavioral difficulties. Despite the significance of this problem, few studies have separated the contributions of metamemory from memory availability in aging and AD. Further, the degree that metamemory is affected by different types of memories is poorly understood, limiting our understanding of how metamemory abilities generalize across various situations. The current research addresses several fundamental questions about metamemory in aging and AD. Aim 1 is to identify the extent that aging and AD differentially affect metamemory at retrieval. To achieve this aim, Experiments 1 and 2 compare metamemory accuracy across groups, using a novel procedure that equates the groups on memory availability (recollection). Metamemory ability will be measured as the correspondence between subjective confidence judgments and objective memory accuracy. Aim 2 is to determine how emotional memories, which are differentially affected by aging and AD, influence metamemory. To achieve this aim, Experiments 3 and 4 investigate the effects of emotional valence and arousal on memory distortion. These experiments will extend the results of the first two experiments to a false recognition task, investigating accuracy and confidence for both neutral and emotional memories. Aim 3 is to understand the nature of individual differences in metamemory in aging and AD. This aim will be addressed by investigating the relationship between metamemory accuracy, frontal functioning, and personal beliefs in memory ability (including anosognosia, or impaired awareness of cognitive declines in AD). In addition to exploring the potential anatomical correlates of metamemory, these analyses will test the hypothesis that personal beliefs about memory are a critical ingredient to metamemory accuracy, thereby advancing our understanding of individual differences in metamemory in aging and AD. Metamemory is a key aspect of cognitive functioning, especially when more basic memory functions are compromised. A better understanding of metamemory is critical for addressing many of the psychological problems that older adults confront, such as an elevated susceptibility to memory distortion. Further, the ability to detect changes in metamemory that may occur in the early stages of AD might help to distinguish between healthy and diseased states, potentially leading to earlier and more effective clinical interventions. This project focuses on separating the effects of normal aging and the early stages of Alzheimer's disease on memory abilities. Understanding the cognitive changes associated with these populations is critical for distinguishing between healthy and diseased states, and for evaluating treatments that might help to improve quality of life. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This project focuses on separating the effects of normal aging and the early stages of Alzheimer's disease on memory abilities. Understanding the cognitive changes associated with these populations is critical for distinguishing between healthy and diseased states, and for evaluating treatments that might help to improve quality of life.